Who are you sitting with (or who did you sit with) at your wedding reception?

To those who are already married- were you happy with your choice? If not, what would you do differently? To those who did a sweetheart table- how did you like it? I worry that I’ll feel “left out” at my own wedding if we’re apart from everyone!

Ny fiance and I really wanted to sit with our families and not lord over the reception serfdom. But in my situation my mom’s side of the family are scattered all over the US and international and they haven’t seen each other in years, so as much as I would like to be sitting with my parents I want my mom to be able to catch up with her family so I’m seating them together. And so we must lord over the reception serfdom at our own table.

@SleepyBee99: I hate when the whole BP is sat together, especially since almost all of my BM’s are from out of town, so none of their husbands wouldbe sitting with them. So these poor guys will be sitting at a table with people they don’t know after they just traveled from the other side of the country (and some world!!!) to attend our wedding. Nope, we’re having a sweetheart table and the BP is sitting with their dates!

I was very happy with our choice to do a sweetheart table. I feel like traditional head tables just get too complicated. I don’t want to separate my bridal party from their SO’s, that just seems weird. My parents are still together, as are DH’s, but what about people with divorced parents? Plus, both sets of parents plus both sides of the bridal party = huge table.

It was nice to get some time to ourselves for a few minutes during dinner, and then we mingled with everyone so much that it certainly wasn’t like we were isolated from our guests for the rest of the evening; I don’t think we sat down at all other than when we were actually eating dinner and then during (brief) speeches.

@AirForceWife78: I honestly didn’t know people separated the BP from their dates- I just put it on the poll for completeness! I’d hate it if I couldn’t sit with FI at a wedding. We’re having a small BP, so if we sat with them, we’d include their SOs (and kids). I don’t especially want kids at our table, so we were thinking about a sweetheart.

@loving_life: Glad to know you had a good experience with the sweetheart!

Every wedding I’ve been to (probably 20+) the bride and groom sit with just their wedding party and that’s what we’ll be doing. We’re having 6-7 bridesmaids/groomsmen each so it’ll be up to 16 of us at a long table.

@MrsN14: Wow- I really didn’t know that was such an established thing! To be honest, I’m not sure I ever paid attention to whom the bride and groom sat with during the weddings I attended. I was in a BP once, but we sat together with our dates and I can’t remember who the b&g sat with!

I am not a fan of the head tables where you look out at everyone else. But, our venue coordinator suggested doing a ginormous head table including our wedding party and their dates… we have 12 people in the wedding party (not counting us) so when you add in spouses, we will have a 22-person table! It will be a giant oval. I think it will be fun; I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out.

I was in a wedding in June where the bride and groom sat the wedding party with dates over two tables, and they sat at one of the tables.

I’m not sure yet. I prefer us and our bridal party + their dates. However, if space doesn’t work for that, we’ll do just us. I would never split the bridal party up from their dates though because it really makes me mad when it happens to me!

We had a sweeetheart table with a few extra chairs. It was so nice to just sit with him for a few minutes in the midst of the craziness. A bunch of people came over to sit in the spare chairs and chatted. But a few people were like, “You’re all alone?!” All in all, we liked it.

@SleepyBee99: I dislike head tables, so it was not a big decision for us. As PPs have said, I’m not a fan of separating my BP from their guests. I’d be pissed if I couldn’t sit with my date as a BM. DH & I had a sweetheart table and loved it. It’s a hectic day and you’re constantly talking to other people and being pulled in 5678943242 directions. So, even though it’s a day about the two of you, you and your FI will not have much QT. It was awesome to have some alone time in the midst of all the craziness. It was really nice to just sit back and relax with him for a minute and enjoy being married without being interrupted.